The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent application No. 3-293967 (filed on Aug. 20, 1991), which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stand for supporting an endoscope when a sheath is fitted over and removed from an insert tube of the endoscope to prevent contagion of bacteria and viruses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional endoscope stands of the type described above include one which is designed to retain a control part of an endoscope in such a way that the insert tube of the endoscope is downwardly suspended, and another in which the whole endoscope is placed horizontally on a single supporting plate.
However, the conventional endoscope stand wherein the insert tube of the endoscope is downwardly suspended suffers from the problem that the insert tube is likely to sway and touch the surroundings, resulting in the insert tube being contaminated before actual use. When a used endoscope is supported on the stand, the endoscope may contaminate the surroundings.
The prior art wherein the whole endoscope is placed horizontally on a single supporting plate also has the problem of contamination occurring between the insert tube of the endoscope and the surface of the supporting plate in the same way as in the case of the above. Further, since it is difficult to wrap the control part of the endoscope with a cover and remove the cover therefrom with the endoscope laid on the supporting plate, contamination of the control part cannot be prevented. In addition, a light guide cable that is connected to a light source apparatus may also be contaminated because it is always in contact with the surface of the supporting plate.